In case you didn't know, my first ob/gyn happened to be the person who delivered me in the hospital. It was kinda weird, but the stranger thing is that he has a daughter who is exactly the same age as me. Turns out we both ended up at the same college (Scripps College), and she may or may not have dated my husband. That is some seriously strange stuff, no?
Another of my past ob/gyns reply to my question about having large labia was "It's definitely not the biggest I've seen, but I can see what you are talking about." Clearly, I needed to find a new ob/gyn.
Several years ago I was lucky to find my current (and favorite ob/gyn). We bonded quickly because I was one of her first patients at her new practice.
There is a lot I really dig about my new ob/gyn so I figured "why not blog about it?" For the purpose of this post, I will refer to her as "Dr. S"
At the time I first met her, I was working at Bay Area Young (BAY) Positives. This is the agency I now volunteer at. The thing about BAY Positives is that it is a really small non-profit whose mission is to serve HIV positive youth. Unless you work in the HIV community in SF, you probably have never heard about it. The fact that she was aware of the agency while her practice is in Mountain View, CA. was really comforting.
I'm someone who has always known that I didn't wish to breed. Most everyone (including doctors) told me I would change my mind. Dr. S was the first one who didn't minimize my feelings about not wanting children. She told me "Listen, I'm not someone to tell someone what to do with their life when it comes to having children....Seriously, half the time I can hardly find my keys."
Finally, I thought, someone who got me!
Every year we would catch up and talk about my work. When I first found out about anal pap smears, she answered my questions. Although, she did inform me that her office did not provide that particular service. She also doesn't mind that I always ask for comprehensive HIV/STI tests each year.
I had my annual exam yesterday, and Dr. S was in fine form.
I was getting my blood pressure checked when she walked up to say hi. When I saw her, the first thing out of my mouth was "Hey there! Are you totally psyched to see my vagina today?". Without missing a beat, her response was "I'm sure it will be the highlight of my day!" She also high-fived me several times when I told her how things are going with my business. She has always been very supportive and talky about what I do for work. Dr. S is one of those doctors who believes we need more sex educators out there. When it came time for my exam, I told her that, fyi, what we talk about might be going in a future blog post. She couldn't believe that anyone would be that interested in what my ob/gyn had to say. I guess being all up in women's vaginas every day gets to be pretty redundant (my words, not hers).
I'm on the nuva ring. Because of menstrual related migraines, I only get my period every quarter. My insurance company doesn't like to pay for the extra nuva rings, so I end up paying $86 per ring out of pocket. She said she could try to write the prescription differently and then came back into the room with a whole package of nuva rings. Seriously, that is pretty freaking awesome.
I feel like I've found a kindred soul in Dr. S. I'm very open about talking about my sexual health, my vagina, and (apparently) anal pap smears. Dr. S totally rolls with the punches. That makes my vagina and my soul totally happy.
P.S. Don't speculum's look a little bit like a ducks bill?
P.P.S. Just before my exam my husband texted me asking what I was up to. My textual response was "about to get quack-quacked."
P.P.P.S. Husband asked if I brought my own speculum
